1979–80 St. John's Redmen basketball team

The 1979–80 St. John's Redmen basketball team represented St. John's University during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Lou Carnesecca in his 12th year at the school. St. John's home games are played at Alumni Hall and Madison Square Garden and the team is a member of the Big East Conference.

1979–80 St. John's Redmen men's basketball
Lapchick Memorial Champions ECAC Holiday Festival Champions Big East Regular Season Champions
1980 NCAA tournament, Second Round
Conference	Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 13
Record	24–5 (5–1 Big East)
Head coach	Lou Carnesecca
Assistant coaches	Carmine Calzonetti Ron Rutledge
Captain	Reggie Carter Bernard Rencher
Home arena	Alumni Hall Madison Square Garden

1979–80 Big East men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 6 Syracuse	5	–	1		.833			26	–	4		.867
No. 13 St. John's	5	–	1		.833			24	–	5		.828
No. 11 Georgetown†	5	–	1		.833			26	–	6		.813
Connecticut	3	–	3		.500			20	–	9		.690
Boston College	2	–	4		.333			19	–	10		.655
Seton Hall	1	–	5		.167			14	–	13		.519
Providence	0	–	6		.000			11	–	16		.407
† 1980 Big East tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Roster

1979–80 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F - Ray James 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — So Alexander Hamilton Brooklyn, NY G - Ed Kennedy 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) — Sr Maria Regina Merrick, NY G/F - Curtis Redding 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — RS Jr Canarsie/Kansas State Brooklyn, NY G 4 George Garrison 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) — Fr Bellport Bellport, NY G 5 Bernard Rencher (C) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — RS Sr Mater Christi/Notre Dame Elmhurst, NY F 11 David Russell 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Bellport Bellport, NY G 12 Kevin Williams 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Charles E. Hughes New York, NY G 21 Larry Washington  6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jr Canarsie/Texas Tech Brooklyn, NY G/F 22 Ron Plair 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Jr William C. Bryant East Elmhurst, NY F/C 32 Trevor Jackson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — Fr Springfield Gardens Rosedale, NY G 35 Reggie Carter (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — RS Sr Long Island Lutheran/Hawaii New York, NY F 43 Frank Gilroy 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — Jr Holy Cross Whitesone, NY G/F 44 Tim Cluess 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — So St. Agnes West Hempstead, NY C 55 Wayne McKoy 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Long Island Lutheran Bayside, NY	Head coach Lou Carnesecca (St. John's University) Assistant coach(es) Carmine Calzonetti Ron Rutledge Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
11/30/79*	No. 16	Oral Roberts Lapchick Tournament Opening Round	W 90-78	1-0	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
12/01/79*	No. 16	Michigan State Lapchick Tournament Championship	W 88-73	2-0	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
12/04/79*	No. 9	at Tennessee	L 80-97	2-1	Stokely Athletic Center  Knoxville, TN
12/08/79*	No. 9	Army	W 84-61	3-1	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
12/11/79*	No. 15	Columbia	W 91-75	4-1	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
12/15/79*	No. 15	at Rutgers	W 75-64	5-1	Rutgers Athletic Center  Piscataway, NJ
12/23/79*	No. 15	Centenary (LA)	W 92-72	6-1	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
12/26/79*	No. 15	vs. Lafayette ECAC Holiday Festival Semifinal	W 68-58	7-1	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
12/28/79*	No. 15	vs. Boston College ECAC Holiday Festival Championship	W 78-70	8-1	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
01/05/80	No. 17	Connecticut	W 83-73	9-1 (1-0)	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
01/08/80*	No. 14	at Princeton	W 44-42	10-1	Jadwin Gymnasium  Princeton, NJ
01/12/80	No. 14	Seton Hall	W 97-64	11-1 (2-0)	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
01/14/80*	No. 14	St. Joseph's	W 72-55	12-1	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
01/16/80	No. 10	at Boston College	W 66-63	13-1 (3-0)	Roberts Center  Chestnut Hill, MA
01/19/80	No. 10	at Georgetown	W 71-69	14-1 (4-0)	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, D.C.
01/22/80*	No. 9	Manhattan	W 88-64	15-1	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
01/24/80*	No. 9	Davidson	W 67-48	16-1	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
01/26/80	No. 9	Villanova	W 81-75	17-1	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
01/28/80*	No. 9	at Niagara	W 87-63	18-1	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium  Buffalo, NY
02/01/80*	No. 9	at Rhode Island	W 64-63	19-1	Keaney Gymnasium  Kingston, RI
02/03/80*	No. 9	No. 7 Louisville	L 71-76	19-2	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
02/05/80*	No. 8	Baltimore	W 89-73	20-2	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
02/09/80*	No. 8	Fordham	W 78-60	21-2	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
02/16/80	No. 7	No. 2 Syracuse	L 71-72	21-3 (4-1)	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
02/19/80*	No. 7	at Temple	W 63-58 OT	22-3	The Palestra  Philadelphia, PA
02/23/80	No. 7	at Providence	W 68-62	23-3 (5-1)	Providence Civic Center  Providence, RI
Big East tournament
02/28/80	No. 8	at Providence Big East tournament quarterfinal	W 48-44	24-3	Providence Civic Center  Providence, RI
02/29/80	No. 8	vs. No. 20 Georgetown Big East tournament semifinal	L 66-76	24-4	Providence Civic Center  Providence, RI
NCAA tournament
03/08/80*	No. 13	at No. 20 (6) Purdue NCAA Second Round	L 72-87	24-5	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
6	120	Bernard Rencher	Chicago Bulls